Dispensing refrigerator



DISPENSiNG. REFRIGERATR Ellsworth C. Salisburg Columbus, Ollio, assigner to Mundean Manufacturing Company, Columbus, yGhia, a corporation of Ohio Application February 11, '1954, Serial No. 409,555

4 Claims. (Cl. 624-182) The present invention relates to the art of refrigeration and moreV particularly Ato refrigerator cabinet construction of the type having a dispensing compartment, a' storage. compartment, and a cooling unit compartment, and further relates to the location of the cooling unit in theV cooling unit compartment and tothe arrangement of partition walls and openingsy in the' partition. walls so as to provide for the desired temperatures in the'various compartments.

In refrigerators of the type in which' bottledl or pack'.- agedl merchandisev is dispensed, forA eXample in vending machines for. refrigerated merchandise, itv isi highly necessary to.V refrigerate someof the merchandisetofpalatable temperature at all times, and it is. not necessaryan'dun; economical to maintain other of the merchandise at a temperature as low as those which are to be immediatelyy dispensed.

The present invention is vdirected toa refrigerator, uti'- lizingonly onecoolingzunit in which. the compartments areso` arranged and the air circulation'is such: that the compartment, from which the merchandise is dispensed for consumption, maintainsV thernerchandise` atlthedesired palatable temperature, and is sorelated'toz thecool.- ing element and other compartments that the merchan` dise is quickly cooled to the desired temperature; and the storage or merchandise pre-coolingv compartment-'isV so arrangedy and related with respect to the dispensing compartment and cooling unit that it is' notmateriallyfr atfectedby either a relatively high demand or relatively; low demand for refrigeration in theV dispensingcomparti ment.

To; achieve these results, the dispensingcompartinent is so located and arranged with respectito the'cooling unitV that cooling air ows therethrough, primarily.` byy forced circulation of the air, and thepre-cooling or storage .coma4 partment is so located and arranged, with respect-tothe= cooling unit",` dispensing compartment, and partitions, that prolonged forced circulation of cold `air through thev dispensing compartment, or when the demand for circulation of airthrough thel dispensing;compartment'is' at-r a minimum, the temperature ofthe air in the storage.. compartment'is-not materially varied fromthatdesired,` yet the ow of cooling-air' through. thestoragewcompartment is increased and decreased in responseito'increased and decreased demands for cooling therein.

Further objects and advantages will be apparentffromf the followingdescription,l reference4 beingf had tov the:- accompanying drawing wherein a .preferredembodirnent ofthe invention. is illustrated.

In thedrawings:

The ,figure inthe drawingV is. a crossasectional kview-offen refrigerator cabinet, together with a refrigeratingiappafratus: shown'in elevation.`

Thev refrigeratorincludes4 the cabinet 20`having sitlef walls 21, k22,A and 23. Walls 22 and 23 aref-.connectedE withxone1 another,A by a floor'24. Therefiigeratorvalso; includes confronting side. walls. of like. shapegaonealof which isindicated at 25.

nited States Patent 2,76i3 Patented Sept. i8, i956 Wall 24 is' also joined with walls 25, and bottom wall 26-join`s with walls 21 and 23, and both Walls 25. The top wail of the refrigerator is in the form of a door or lid 28. Thus the refrigerator cabinet is of L-shaped design, the L being at an angle of All of the walls heretofore mentioned are formed of insulated material, it being understoodV that the walls are each lined interiorly with galvanized iron.

The refrigerating mechanism comprises a cooling unit 3ft an'drefrigerating medium circulating unit 31. Any desirable type of refrigerating apparatus may be employed, andthe'one herein selected to illustrate the invention is of the compression-condensing-eXpanding type wherein the cooling unit 30 is an evaporator and the refrigeratingy medium circulating unit 31 is a motor com-v pressori unit. Such a system also includes a condenser which@ i's` herein shown at 32. The desired temperature is maintained in the evaporator through a controller which starts the] refrigerating apparatus when the temperature of the evaporator attains a predetermined high value and stopsthe motordcompressor unit when the evaporator attains a predetermined low value. Such controller employs aclosedl thermostatic system comprising a tube and bellows or diaphragm which actuates a pressure-responsive electric switch, one'end of the tubel being connected with thebellows and the other end of the tube being in intimateY heat-exchange relation with the evaporator. Usually the end which-is in intimate heat-exchange relation with the; evaporator terminatesv in a bulb such assho'wn" at 33,. and the tubeis shown-at 34;

Further details of the controller andthe refrigerating apparatus are unnecessary to the understanding of this invention -since such elements are conventional. Suice itto say that the evaporator 30 is in the lower part of the cabinetl adjacent wall 23 but is spaced therefrom for the reason appearingV hereinafter; The motor-compressor unit 31 andcondenser 32 are disposed in the notch 3S ofthe L.

As' previouslyi stated, evaporator 30 is adjacent to' but spaced-from the vertical wall 23. A partition wall 37 extends parallelly with wall'23 and terminates-in a plane above'the plane of horizontal wall-24where it joins withahorizontally extending wall 3S`to form therewithfa passagei39; As viewed in the drawing, the partition Wall 38' also extends to the'righ't, and this partition wall to-A gether with'said walls 25, side walls 21 and 22, and lid: 28'forni1whatiis'herein defined as a dispensing compartment 411; Merchandise to be dispensed is contained within this compartment, and such merchandise is herein shown as bottles 42. Suitable coin control-mechanism 43/ is provided. This mechanism 43 is also of the conventional` typef and it controls other' mechanism which' permits theiwithdrawal of one bottlefrom the dispensing compartment, and no more, uponthe insertion of a coin.l

Any suitable shelving may be employed for carrying they bottles and, as is'h'ereinshown, racks 45 are provided which-suspend the bottles from the bead of the neck thereof.-

T-he evaporator 30 is disposed'to the right of partition wall 37, and avertical wall 46 arranged parallelly with and` confronting Wall 37 is disposed on the right side of the-evaporator 30. The lower ends of walls 37 and 46 Thus the shortfof' th'eside Wall-2i of the cabinet to provide Van opening-'553 leading from dispensing compartment 41` to pas sagewayf 2.

The space delined by walls 46 and 51, bottom 26, side walls 25, and side wall 21, is herein defined as a precooling or storage compartment 55.

Arr opening 56 is formed in the partition wall 37 leading from the cooling unit compartment 50 to the passage 39. A motor-driven fan 57 is located adjacent the left side of the evaporator and is arranged to draw air through the evaporator and expel the same into the passage 39. The upper end of passage 39 joins with a passageway 5S, which latter is formed by bottom wall 24 and the left portion of partition wall 38. The left end of partition wall 38 stops short of wall 22 to provide an opening 59 leading from the left end of passageway 58 to the dispensing compartment 41. This expelled air is ejected through the passageways 39 and 58 and then through opening 59 into the dispensing compartment 41. This air is then forced to the right through the dispensing compartment 41, and then ows via opening 53 and passageway 52 into the cooling unit compartment 50. From this compartment 50, it is drawn through the evaporator by the fan 57.

The right end of the second or lower horizontal partition wall 51 stops short of said wall 21 to provide an opening 61 leading from the storage compartment 55 to the right end of passageway 52. Heated, that is, expanded air is withdrawn from storage -compartment 55 through the opening 6l, whence it is conducted through passageway 52 into the cooling unit compartment.

Walls 46 and 51 are impervious except as to the opening 61. Substantially all refrigeration within the storage compartment is by conduction through walls 46 and 51. Any suitable material can be used to form these walls,

the material selected being such as will conduct suiiicient heat therethrough so as to merely precool the material stored in compartment 55.

In the embodiment shown, opening 61 is disposed at the extreme right side of the storage compartment that is adjacent the wall 21. At certain times of the day there are heavy demands for merchandise from the dispensing compartment, at which time the opening and closing of the door to remove the merchandise permits warm air to enter the dispensing compartment. When relative warm merchandise is loaded into the dispensing compartment, causing the opening and closing of the door, there is an increased demand for refrigeration in the dispensing compartment. Either of these increased demands eifects prolonged operation of the refrigerating apparatus. It is not desirable and uneconomical to pre-cool the merchandise in the storage compartment to as low a temperature, or to cool it as quickly as the merchandise that is maintained in the dispensing compartment. Moreover it is also desirable to utilize the evaporator primarily for the purpose of cooling the dispensing compartment when the demand therein is increased7 either through the opening and closing of the door thereof, or the insertion of relatively warmer merchandise. Therefore it is important at this time to limit the refrigeration within the storage cornpartment.

By placing the opening 61 as herein shown and described, in which the air flowing therethrough need not move the entire body of air therein, a major portion of the cooling effect of the evaporation is concentrated on cooling and dispensing compartment and the merchandise therein. When warm merchandise is placed in the storage compartment S5, natural flow by convection takes place, that is, a slight updraft will be created throughout the entire compartment and the warm air will escape through the opening 61 into the passageway 52.

Thus it will be seen by the construction and arrangement as herein shown and described, the capacity of the refrigerating mechanism need be only slightly in excess of the demand thereon during the peak load upon the dispensing compartment. The caretaker for the apparatus, although advised that it is not preferable to relill the storage compartment during the peak demand upon the dispensing compartment, may nevertheless do so. However, by reason of the location of opening 61, and since convection flow is not highly effective, such insertion of merchandise in the storage compartment during the peak load of the dispensing compartment will not materially atfect the refrigerating eiect in the dispensing compartment. Thus by this construction and arrangement, substantially desired temperature is maintained in the dispensing compartment, although the demand therefrom is at the peak and warm merchandise is placed into the storage compartment during this peak load. Door 62 in Wall 21 provides access to compartments 25 and 55.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms may be adopted falling within the scope of the claims that follow.

Iclaim:

l. In combination, a refrigerating system comprising insulating walls forming top, bottom, and sides of a refrigerator cabinet; wall means within the cabinet separating the cabinet into an upper dispensing compartment, a cooling unit compartment below the dispensing compartment, a storage compartment below the dispensing compartment and alongside the cooling unit compartment, said wall means forming a passage for the flow of air from the cooling unit compartment to the dispensing compartment, said wall means including horizontally extending portions confronting one another and spaced from one another to provide an outlet passage for air below the dispensing compartment and above the storage compartment and leading from the dispensing compartment to the cooling unit compartment, one end of said passage terminating at and communicating with the cooling unit ycompartment and the other end of said passage terminating adjacent but spaced from a 'side wall of the cabinet and in communication with the dispensing compartment, said wall means including an impervious vertically extending portion dividing the lower part of the cabinet into said cooling unit compartment and said storage compartment, the upper end of said impervious portion terminating at the second-mentioned horizontally extending portion and the lower end of said impervious portion extending to the bottom of the cabinet; a cooling unit in said cooling unit compartment; and a fan for forcing air into the first-mentioned passage and for withdrawing air from the dispensing compartment through the `second-mentioned passage.

2. Elements as dened in claim l characterized in that both of said horizontally extending portions terminate adjacent but are spaced from the side wall of the cabinet whereby said passage is also in communication with the storage compartment.

3. In combination, insulating walls forming top, bottom, and side of a refrigerator cabinet; a horizontally extending wall cooperating with the side and top walls to form a dispensing compartment, said wall forming an opening adjacent one side Wall of the cabinet for the ingress of air to the compartment and forming an opening adjacent the opposite vside wall of the cabinet for the egress of air from the compartment; a vertically extending wall extending from the bottom of the cabinet to the horizontally extending wall and spaced from a side wall of the cabinet to form a passageway for air leading to said ingress opening, said vertically extending wall having an opening therethrough; a second vertically extending wall confronting the first vertically extending Wall and cooperating with the latter and with side walls of the cabinet to form a cooling unit compartment, said second vertically extending wall terminating below the horizontally extending wall; a second horizontally extending wall confronting and spaced below the tirst horizontally extending Wall and cooperating therewith to provide a horizontally extending passageway leading from said egress opening, one end of the second-mentioned horizontally extending wall terminating and joined with the top of the second-mentioned vertically extending wall, said second-mentioned vertically extending and secondmentioned horizontally extending walls cooperating with the bottom and side Wall of the cabinet to form a storage compartment below the dispensing compartment and alongside the cooling unit compartment; a cooling unit in the cooling unit compartment; and a fan for forcing the air into the rst-mentioned passage and for withdrawin air from the dispensing compartment through the secondmentioned passage.

4. Elements as defined in claim 3 characterized in that 6 the end of the second-mentioned horizontally extending wall, opposite the end joined with the second-mentioned vertically extending wall, provides an opening eiecting inter-communication between the storage `compartment 5 and the horizontally extending passageway.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 2,290,647 Lowell July 21, 1942 2,545,602 Burger Mar. 20, 1951 2,613,508 Briukoeter Oct. 14, 1952 

